1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for automatically compressing material into bales in a continuous extrusion type baling machine, and more particularly to apparatus for baling material which require end pads in the finished bale.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Continuous extrusion type baling machines have been well known in the baling art and have conventionally comprised a horizontal baling chamber having a floor, having sides for constraining the bale laterally and having an open forward end of controllable cross section from which the bales were extruded, and a feed hopper opening in the top side of the baling chamber for delivering the material to be baled. A baling head reciprocated in the baling chamber past the feed hopper opening between a rearward position of retraction and a forward position of extension. The baling head was conventionally driven by a hydraulic ram.
In operation, a charge of compressible material was dumped into the hopper and dropped into the baling chamber when the baling head was retracted. Successive charges were compressed and compacted together in the baling chamber by repeated strokes of the baling head against the resistance of material that had been previously compressed and extruded through the throat. In this manner a length of compacted and compressed material was formed and extruded through and out the open end of the baling chamber. When a bale, i.e., a length of compressed material suitable and convenient for handling, had been accumulated in the baling chamber, the bale was bound and tied with a suitable number of wires, preferably while held in a compressed state between the baling head and the immediately preceding last bale that was tied.
Bale ties have been placed and twisted together or otherwise secured by hand operations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,024,719, disclosed, among other things, a horizontal, continuous baler equipped to place blocks between the otherwise abutting ends of successively formed bales. The blocks were provided with groves on opposite faces that extended laterally across the ends of the bales. A tie wire could be passed through the grooves and along the sides and thus around the bale being tied. Conventionally, the ends of a tie were twisted together.
Such a method of and apparatus for tying bales was slow and expensive because of the labor required and the blocks used. To replace this manual process, the automatic tying apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,913 was developed. This automatic tying apparatus could operate unattended and without blocks and could conveniently and economically be used as an accessory to a conventional horizontal continuous baler. The apparatus comprised tie wire dispensing and guide means on opposite sides of the baler, and wire pullers, twisters and cutters all on the same side of the baler. The wire pullers extended from the one side of the baler to the other or second side of the baler and engaged wires on the second side and pulled them to the first side together with the wire extending along the second side. The pullers positioned both wires adjacent the twisters and the cutter. The twister produced twisted joints in the tie wires. This apparatus provided a suitable means for automatically tying bales produced by an extrusion-type baler, but it was not readily adaptable for use in baling all types of substances.
In baling certain substances, such as mineral wool, it has been necessary to provide corrugated pads at each end of the bale to provide the bale with the necessary stability so that the tying wires could hold the compressed material in the bale. In the past, such end pads have usually been placed on the ends of the bale by hand as part of a manual tying process. It has not been possible heretofore to form bales using an automatic tying apparatus with end pads in the bales since there has been no way to insert the end pads into the baler before the bales were tied.
While it may have been possible to insert end pads at the beginning and end of each bale in the same manner that the tying blocks were inserted as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,024,719, there is no indication that such a process has ever been attempted. Furthermore, event if such a procedure were used, it would still require hand tying since the block insertion means of U.S. Pat. No. 3,024,719 were intended for hand tying and were basically incompatible the automatic tying apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,913.